Oklahoma Runoff Election Turnout Reaches 22%

Oklahoma Runoff Election Turnout Reaches 22% in Statewide Vote

About 22% of Oklahoma’s registered voters participated in the Aug. 25 runoff election based on ballots cast for State Question 846, the statewide contest available to every registered voter.

The Oklahoma runoff election turnout exceeded participation in the state’s last gubernatorial runoff in 2018, but the numbers continue a longstanding pattern of relatively low voter participation in Oklahoma elections.

Oklahoma Runoff Election Turnout Reaches About 22%

Unofficial results show 535,545 votes were cast on State Question 846. Oklahoma had 2,434,780 registered voters as of July, putting participation on the statewide question at approximately 22%.

State Question 846 provides one of the clearest estimates of overall turnout because every registered Oklahoma voter was eligible to participate, regardless of political affiliation.

State Question 844 received 528,490 votes, about 7,000 fewer than SQ 846.

The election also included Republican and Democratic runoff races, but Oklahoma used a closed primary system for the 2026 election cycle. Independent voters could not participate in either party’s runoff contests.

All registered voters, however, were eligible to cast ballots on the two state questions.

The Oklahoma State Election Board will certify results from the Aug. 25 election on Sept. 1. Results remain unofficial until that process is completed.

Oklahoma’s General Election is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026.

Republican Governor Runoff Draws Nearly 371,000 Votes

The Republican runoff for Oklahoma governor generated the highest participation among the partisan statewide races.

Unofficial results show 371,309 votes were cast in the contest between Mike Mazzei and Gentner Drummond.

Mazzei received 186,678 votes while Drummond received 184,631, a difference of just 2,047 votes.

Based on July voter registration numbers, approximately 28.7% of registered Republicans participated in the gubernatorial runoff.

Other Republican statewide runoff contests also drew hundreds of thousands of voters.

The state superintendent race recorded 360,631 votes, the insurance commissioner contest received 353,549 votes and the labor commissioner race received 349,919 votes.

On the Democratic side, 129,439 votes were cast in the U.S. Senate runoff between N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas and Jim Priest. Thomas won the nomination and will advance to November.

That represents approximately 21% of registered Democrats, based on July registration figures.

Oklahoma Counties Show Wide Differences in Voter Turnout

County-level results from State Question 846 show that low participation extended across much of Oklahoma.

Based on the unofficial figures, 58 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties had turnout of 25% or less on SQ 846.

Love County recorded the lowest preliminary participation at approximately 14%, with 951 votes cast among 6,859 registered voters.

Major and Alfalfa counties had the highest estimated turnout at approximately 35%.

Oklahoma’s two largest counties were nearly identical to the statewide rate. Oklahoma County recorded 101,346 votes on SQ 846 among 468,060 registered voters, while Tulsa County recorded 89,353 votes among 400,231 registered voters. Both were approximately 22%.

The statewide question is useful for estimating participation, but it is not an exact count of everyone who voted Tuesday. Some voters could have participated in a partisan or local race without casting a vote on SQ 846.

Oklahoma has struggled with low voter turnout compared with other states for several election cycles, making participation a recurring issue heading into the November General Election.

The Aug. 25 results nevertheless show participation increased compared with Oklahoma’s previous gubernatorial runoff election, even as fewer than one in four registered voters cast a ballot on the statewide question.

Official statewide and county results are available through the Oklahoma State Election Board election results.

🔴 MORE RADIO NEWS